86 



THE OOLOGIST 



from fifteen to thiriy feet up, but be- 

 yond this I know nothing of their 

 breeding habits. I hope, however, to 

 visit that neighborhood during the 

 coming season and should I be success- 

 ful in learning more of the habits of 

 this bird I will let the readers of the 

 DoLOGiST know the result of my trip. 

 Pryobates, 

 N. O/La. 



A Few Questions For Ornithologists. 



1. How many eyelids have birdsv 

 3. Of what use to birds is the bone 

 we commonly call the wish-bone? 



3. What bird travei'ses three elements 

 with ease? 



4. What bird or birds have the habit 

 of placing the cast off snake-skins in 

 their nest? 



5. Should we pronounce the scien- 

 tific names of birds with the Latin pro- 

 nunciation or the English? 



6. Which, in your opinion, is the 

 most handsome of American birds? 

 The most intelligent? 



7. What bird does the most good? 

 The most harm? 



8. Are albino eggs caused by a dis- 

 ease in the female birds, or not? 



9. Do birds cover their young ones 

 with their wings or bodies, or by other 

 means during a storm? 



10. Has any reader of the Oologist 

 seen, or heard of anyone besides Audu- 

 bon, seeing any of the Caprimulgidce es- 

 pecially the Chuck-wills-widow, remove 

 move their eggs in their mouth from 

 their nest, after it had been disturbed? 



Patronus Avium, 

 Niles, Mich. 



Two Freaks and Other Notes. 



Under this title I will describe first a 

 peculiar specimen olMerula migratoria 

 (Am. Robin), which I have mounted in 

 my collection. The bird was shot by 

 Wm. Sheldon, of Chili, N. Y., on the 



3rd day of April, ls9:3; hence, necessari- 

 ly, in full spring plumage. But what 

 an odd looking Robin. It is nothing to 

 wonder at that Mr. Sheldon did not 

 know what he was shooting at. I prob- 

 ably should not have known myself- 

 The bird, a male, was colored as fol- 

 lows: forehead and lores, white; crown, 

 white with two slate-colored feathers 

 in upper center and two in right supra, 

 orbital region; occiput, white with one 

 slate-colored feather in center; hind 

 neck down to inter-scapulars, white 

 vai'iegated with light slate or gray. 

 Interscapulars or back, scapulars, rump 

 and upper tail coverts, dark gray, ex- 

 cept as follows: one white feather in 

 middle of back, four in i-ight scapulars, 

 two on forward edge of left scapulars 

 and the longest feather in upper tail 

 coverts white. Sides of head, throat 

 and jugulum pure white. Breast and 

 abdomen, light ferruginous or brick j 

 red, more than half the breast feathers ,| 

 being tipped with white, and a pure 

 white spot in the center of abdomen 

 Anal regions under tail-coverts and 

 tibia, white. Wing coverts on both 

 sides equally mixed with white and 

 slate. The first four primaries in each 

 wing, pure white; the 5th and "/th, slate; 

 the 6th and 8th, white. Secondaries 

 and tertials, mixed slate and white, the 

 slate predominating and not alike on 

 each wing. Outer tail feathers, pure 

 white, next two tipped with white, ex- 

 tending up the outer web ^ an inch, all 

 the rest slightly tipped with white, the 

 left hand upper feather being two- 

 thirds white, extending over nearly all 

 the outer web. Beak, light yellow and 

 semi-transparent, legs and feet similar 

 when taken, but have since changed to 

 a light brown. Eyes with brown iris 

 and black pupil, therefore not an albino. 

 However if you could see it you would 

 all agree that no description could give 

 a correct idea of this patched-up bird. 

 In size it is normal, and those who 

 saw it alive say it appeared to be 

 healthy. 



